Editing Anachronism (section)

===Future anachronism===<!-- Section is linked from the redirected [Future anachronism] article; use caution. -->
{{See also|Retrofuturism}}
[[File:Amazing stories 193107.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A 1931 ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' cover has future [[space technology]] advanced enough for a large-scale [[colonization of Mars]] alongside [[propeller (aeronautics)|propeller airplanes]].]]

Even with careful research, [[science fiction]] writers risk anachronism as their works age because they cannot predict all political, social, and technological change.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction |last1=Athans |first1=Philip |author-link1=Philip Athans |last2=Salvatore |first2=R. A. |author-link2=R. A. Salvatore |publisher=[[Adams Media]] |year=2010 |isbn=9781440507298 |pages=167–170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8DrDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT167}}</ref>

For example, many books, television shows, radio productions and films nominally set in the mid-21st century or later refer to the [[Soviet Union]], to [[Saint Petersburg]] in Russia as [[Leningrad]], to [[Cold War|the continuing struggle between the Eastern and Western Blocs]] and to [[history of Germany (1945–90)|divided Germany and divided Berlin]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} ''[[Star Trek]]'' has suffered from future anachronisms; instead of "[[retroactive continuity|retconning]]" these errors, the [[Star Trek (2009 film)|2009 film]] retained them for consistency with older franchises.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/living-the-star-trek-life/ |title=Living the Star Trek life |last=Glaskowsky |first=Peter |work=[[CNET]] |date=2009-05-08 |access-date=2014-06-11}}</ref>

Buildings or natural features, such as the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]], can become out of place once they disappear,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/12/06/AR2005033116653.html |title='Empire': Gangster Tale Sleeps With the Fishes |last=Hornaday |first=Ann |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2002-12-06 |access-date=2014-06-11}}</ref> with some works having been [[List of entertainment affected by the September 11 attacks|edited to remove the World Trade Center]] to avoid this situation.

Futuristic technology may appear alongside technology which would be obsolete by the time in which the story is set. For example, in the stories of [[Robert A. Heinlein]], interplanetary space travel coexists with calculation using [[slide rule]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lyons |first1=Michele |title=Sliding Through Science History, Part 2 |url=https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2016/06/sliding-through-science-history-part-2 |website=NIH Intramural Research Program |date=9 June 2016 |access-date=April 9, 2021}}</ref>